“Follow your passion” is the line most people remember from Steve Jobs famous commencement speech at Stanford University.

The research says Steve got it wrong.

Purpose trumps passion every time, write Chip and Dan Heath in their powerful book The Power of Moments. 

They site a study of high and low performers conducted by University of California, Berkeley professor Morten Hansen who looked at the impact of passion and purpose.… continue reading

“Such is human psychology that if we don’t express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.” – Lin Yutang… continue reading

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

This week we are exploring the power of mission or purpose.  

Mission is one of the defining aspects of Google’s culture writes Laszlo Bock, Google’s long-time Chief People Operations Officer in his book Work Rules!

So, what’s missing from Google’s mission statement?

First, there is no mention of profit.  

There’s no mention of market or customers … continue reading

This week we’ve been looking at relationships: how the strength of our relationships is the number one driver of happiness and how to create moments – personally and professionally – that deepen our relationships.

Today we revisit public enemy #1 of building relationships: technology.

First, to be clear: I like technology.  Technology is a good thing.  Technology makes our lives better.

And…  Technology is also a relationship-chiller. 

Let’s say we’re … continue reading

That’s the message too often we get when we interact with most organizations.   

We feel like a number.  Not a person.  

It’s not a good feeling.

This week we are exploring tools to build relationships. Today, we turn to the professional.

Chip and Dan Heath share a story in The Power of Moments about analysts at the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) who studied customer service calls and the ratings people … continue reading

Why do some relationships endure while others crumble?  Why does intimacy develop between some partners and not others?  

This week we are exploring how to create more moments of connection that lead to stronger relationships.  

We typically think time is the key ingredient in strengthening relationships. Yet, maybe not.  

It’s Thanksgiving.  We are making the same small talk with our uncle we do every year.  After ten years, we still aren’t any … continue reading

What is it about certain moments that deepen our ties to others and how do we create more of them?  

Those are amongst the questions Chip and Dan Heath pose in their terrific book The Power of Moments.

Chip and Dan share the research of Harry Reis, a social psychologist who has spent his career studying this mystery.

Turns out there is a simple answer: Our relationships are stronger when we perceive … continue reading

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.… continue reading

“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period,” says Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the longest and most comprehensive study on human happiness.

Period.  Hard stop.

Robert tells us: “It’s not the number of friends you have; it’s the quality of your close relationships that matters.”

This week we are going to be explore the power of … continue reading

Early in his tenure at Google, longtime Chief People Officer Laszlo Bock recounts in his book Work Rules!, he wrote an email to his manager complaining about someone else on the team.  

Laszlo’s boss added the person to the email string.

Laszlo quickly reached out directly to the person and together they resolved the issue.

When someone writes a nasty email about someone else, the practice of adding the … continue reading